I became a son-in-law in the United States

Chapter 102 It's Not That Simple

Two hours later, Jia looked at the completed manuscript in front of her and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It has that flavor.

In this article, she speaks candidly about the injustices she has suffered as an Irishwoman, injustices that are pervasive throughout Boston and even in Wellesley and Harvard.

Faced with this injustice, every Irishman should unite and cast every vote for Kennedy, for Patrick's son who is now Joseph Sr., who is working hard for everyone.

Meanwhile, on Joseph's side, the battle had already begun, and the formal election had commenced.

If the previous newspaper interviews were just a prelude, then now it's time for direct confrontation and a test of strength.

Of course, there are ways to compete based on ability; it's not as simple as just grabbing a speech and giving a speech on the street. Doing that would probably get you killed.

In fact, the elections in the United States in the 20s were a bit like the later gangster movies. Public speeches to incite followers were only the last step; the first step should have been to pay respects to the leader.

In Boston, political power has never been limited to the mayor or councilors in the public eye.

In 1927, a candidate running for public office would likely not go to the city hall first, but to some unassuming community club.

For Joseph Sr., there were many places he needed to visit, such as the "key bosses" in his district (godfathers and gangsters), the Boston political machine (the mayor and important officials), other councilors and community leaders in the district, and so on.

Among these people, the most important is undoubtedly the key boss, Martin Lomasny.

He is 68 years old, short and stout, but with dark skin. Rumor has it that he once gouged out his opponent's eyeballs with his bare hands and even threatened the judge in court. This caused a stir in the underworld, and no one dared to mess with him.

Like Joseph Sr., this guy also lost both his parents at a young age and started working in the underworld at 14. He became a gang leader at a young age and existed as a role model and godfather within the gang.

This style is somewhat similar to the later Eazy-E. There's a sentence in this guy's Baidu Baike entry that I still remember vividly.

This means: [He earned his first fortune through drug trafficking...]

The translation is: Eazy-E dropped out of school early and founded the Ruthless label by selling drugs.

Lomasny, on the other hand, started as a lamplighter, worked his way up from the lowest level of health inspector to become a small leader, founded the Hendricks Club, and eventually became the "godfather of the community" whom everyone respected.

In short, both this rapper and Lomasny at this time are formidable figures; otherwise, they wouldn't have become key bosses.

The man that old Joseph was going to visit was known as "Mahatma" in the community, and he lived decades earlier than the Indian man, which shows how high his status and how great his influence was.

He controls the key voting power in the 10th constituency; without his approval, any campaign would be difficult to launch.

In other words, as long as this guy nods, old Joseph can get tens of thousands of votes overnight. If this were today, he would definitely be considered a master manipulator.

However, there's no way around it; in this day and age, the veterans are the bosses, the godfathers, and the gods of this constituency.

In the afternoon, at Lomasny's villa, the two sat facing each other, chatting about the recent stock market and Hollywood. The atmosphere was very friendly; anyone who didn't know them would think they were friends.

However, once the atmosphere had been set, this godfather who wasn't actually a godfather slowly raised his head and said with a forced smile, "Joseph, this is a debt that can never be repaid."

Old Joseph looked embarrassed, avoided the other person's gaze, and still nodded.

He knew all too well that without this bigwig's approval, he might not even have made it past the preliminary round.

Boston today is no longer the old-school Turkey era. Voters remember Kennedy, but they will listen to Lomasny.

Because gangs, through churches, guilds, and some business organizations, firmly control the lower and middle classes, especially the working class, and have unparalleled influence.

To successfully complete this deal, an equal exchange won't do; a hefty price cut is necessary, otherwise, what kind of gang would it be?

"I understand, Mr. Lomasny. How may I help you?"

"Not for now," Lomasny waved his hand, politely declining old Joseph's offer. "I'll contact you later. Don't worry, I won't ask for much. We're friends, aren't we?"

"In that case, I won't bother you any longer."

After saying this, old Joseph stood up, shook hands with the other person, and hurriedly left.

That evening, Joseph Sr. visited another villa. This time, the person he was visiting was none other than the current mayor of Boston, Malcolm Nichols.

Nichols was a Republican, so the visit couldn't be public, and old Joseph only brought two of his closest friends.

The two were very polite and chatted quite a bit, creating a very pleasant atmosphere.

Joseph Sr. didn't expect to get any substantial support from this Republican; he just hoped he wouldn't cause trouble during the campaign.

Nichols readily agreed, stating that as the mayor of Boston, he would fully support the election campaign.

After visiting these two bigwigs, old Joseph began visiting various community leaders, making promises in exchange for voters' votes.

Meanwhile, Lowell was not idle either. With the support of the powerful Lowell family and the WASP community, Lowell's election campaign went more smoothly, and she won all the votes in Beacon Hill and Back Bay without any effort. Now she is actively seeking the support of other ethnic groups.

The next day, old Joseph finally had his first major speech.

At 3:50 p.m., thousands of voters arrived "on time" at the East Boston pier.

There were Irish, African, Slavic, and even Asian and homeless Gypsies present, which shows that Lomasny is indeed a formidable force.

These days, with brushes in hand and gangsters providing protection, dozens of such speeches can be organized every day.

In front of a large number of voters, Joseph Sr. repeatedly reiterated his political platform, including repealing Prohibition, advocating for a minimum wage, fighting for community welfare, supporting low-income housing legislation and veterans' pensions, and promising open bidding for municipal projects.

Of course, some are for the voters, and some are for certain groups.

For example, in terms of municipal projects, it goes without saying that it's Lomasny's, and these are part of the cost.

"By the way, how's the situation with Lowell?"

Before going on stage, old Joseph was a little worried and asked about the situation on the other side of his arch-rival.

The assistant nodded and said bluntly, "He has already secured all the votes in Back Bay and is now vying for swing districts like the port."

Old Joseph nodded: "It seems we need to speed things up too."

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